POLITICS: THE UNIONS

POLITICS: THE UNIONS;A Call to Arms, or at Least Faxes

By MICHAEL WINERIP

Published: May 25, 1996

CANTON, Ohio, May 24—
National labor leaders have vowed that unions will play a historic role in this year's Presidential and Congressional races, and indeed there is evidence here that a sizable grass-roots push has begun.

"I want every one of your locals to go out and get a fax machine!" Joe Holcomb, a member of the United Steelworkers of America's new "Rapid Response" political-action team, recently told a gathering here of leaders from 20 union locals.

There was more. "You will all need a designated line for your fax," said John Mroczkowski, a district leader for the steelworkers. "You can't just use your phone line. This fax has to be ready to go at any time. We're serious about this -- this comes right from the top, from George Becker himself."

For the half-million United Steelworkers across the country, a fax in every union hall is the engine for the Rapid Response program created by the union's national president, Mr. Becker. The goal is to have 4 percent of the rank and file ready to mobilize as soon as word comes from international headquarters by fax, whether that means hopping on a bus to a political rally or firing off letters to a local Congressman.

Without a doubt, the 1994 Republican sweep of Congress got the attention of the local union leaders here and has moved them to mobilize in a way not seen in northeast Ohio in a long while. The leadership's hope is to re-elect President Clinton and help the Democrats recapture Congress. Or, as Mr. Mroczkowski explained at the Stark County Rapid Response gathering, "If Newt and the blow boys had it their way down there, we'd already be history!"

Last week, 40 leaders from Ohio's A.F.L.-C.I.O. councils met in Columbus to hear their state president, Bill Burga, map out election strategy. "This is the most important election since 1958," Mr. Burga said, referring to the unions' greatest political victory in Ohio, when they defeated an anti-union "right to work" referendum and propelled a Democratic takeover of the Legislature, the Governor's office and a United States Senate seat. "All you folks need to get off your rear ends and lead this campaign!" he said.

In the past, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. headquarters in Washington would send a couple of national staff members to Ohio a month before the election, Mr. Burga said. "That wasn't enough time for them to do anything."

Six months before this year's election there are already three A.F.L.-C.I.O. national staff members working full time in the districts of the state's three Republican Congressmen considered most vulnerable: Representative Steve Chabot of Cincinnati, Representative Martin R. Hoke of Cleveland and Representative Frank A. Cremeans of Portsmouth.

For the first time in years, the midwestern region of the plumbers and pipefitters' union has members touring Ohio, four people visiting every county board of elections to match union membership lists against the rolls of registered voters. The names of those not registered will be sent to local presidents, like Dan Fonte of Canton, who will be able to run well-targeted registration drives.

Using this approach, Steve Pickard, president of the public-employees union representing Canton city workers, says he now has 305 of his 310 members registered to vote.

After being elected international president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. last year, John J. Sweeney pledged $35 million to educate workers, get out the vote and wage an aggressive advertising campaign to help the Democrats regain control of Congress. Here in Stark County, where the two largest employers are steel companies, the Timken Company and Republic Engineered Steels, the steelworkers have begun the most ambitious electoral effort.

Their Rapid Response program has been a year in the making. Mr. Holcomb, the president of a steelworkers' local in nearby Alliance, was chosen as a coordinator after going through a week of training last summer at the union's educational headquarters near Pittsburgh.

In his speech to the 20 Stark County leaders, Mr. Holcomb explained that the 4 percent picked for Rapid Response should be rank and file members, not officers. The first mobilizations will be letter-writing campaigns to Congress over traditional union issues like the minimum wage, right-to-work legislation, and efforts to change pension laws and weaken safety and health inspection standards.

"If you have a large local -- 200, 300 letters -- don't mail them all at once," he said, "Spread them over two to three days so it comes to the Congressman in waves. It's more impressive."

Past union political activity has focused on getting members to support Democratic candidates. This caused considerable resentment among some rank-and-file members who have felt they were being told how to vote. Before Mr. Holcomb could get very far into the session, Steve Knox, a union leader from Massillon, raised his hand and said, "You're not going to use this to tell us what candidates to endorse, are you? You know we have Republicans and Democrats."

"I know," Mr. Holcomb said. "I did the registration drive for my local -- I was surprised how many Republicans. This is issues."

Mr. Mroczkowski said, "We're trying to get these guys to stop talking about the Bulls game and start talking about what's going on in Washington."